Public Sends Comments as Assignment Task Force Continues Work
May 24, 2011—Superintendent Tony Tata released two student assignment proposals yesterday afternoon, and in the nearly 24 hours since then, thousands of citizens have visited the student assignment Web site to learn about the two leading proposals – the Blue Plan and the Green Plan.
So far, there have been more than 100,000 Web page views and 3,500 document downloads. Citizens have submitted more than 400 comments and questions about the plans. A number of these questions are about the lack of detail for individual assignment options, particularly for middle and high school placement.
Tata encourages the community discussion of these proposals to begin in a broad context. “I want people to give us feedback on the basic concepts of each plan. These two proposals offer two different paths to the future mechanisms for handling growth – one around individual choice-based assignments to schools (Blue), the other around node-based assignments to schools (Green). We are asking the community to tell us which concept they prefer, along with any other feedback they wish to provide. Once we set a course for a fully-realized plan, the public will have substantial opportunity for comment as we flesh out the detailed options, feeder patterns, procedures, etc.” Tata said.
“I know people are eager to see specific options and feeder patterns, and we are working on those in parallel,” he added. “Developing and aligning the feeder patterns is complex and will take time. We have many feeder patterns to consider – year-round, traditional, proximate, magnet schools, theme schools and achievement schools, among others. But it is important for the public to know that what they are seeing on the website are just examples of what their options may be. Additionally, the feeder patterns, when completed, would be the same for either plan.”
Both concepts address what Tata says the citizens of Wake County have told them they want from their school system: community schools, better programming, diverse schools, equitable and efficient use of resources, stability, and student achievement. “The two plans take different paths. I’d like people to consider which idea they prefer, while we work out the remaining details,” he added.
Following public feedback and additional work by the Student Assignment Task Force, Tata plans to provide a recommended approach to the Board of Education in mid-June. Included in that proposal will be a timeline and task list with a series of public comment sessions to invite public participation at every major step in the process.
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